Hervé Ghesquière

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The French army is often called la
Grande Muette, or "the Great Silent." The war in Mali confirms the French
military's well-deserved reputation of being secretive about front-line actions.
"Locking the information is more in the culture of the French army than of the
U.S. army," says Maurice Botbol, director of La Lettre du Continent. In the first two weeks of military operations
against Islamist militant groups in Mali, the French army has released only a blurry video of an air attack at an undisclosed location.

"Of course you have to go to Afghanistan or
to Syria," said French TV reporter Hervé Ghesquière, who was held
hostage for 547 days in Afghanistan together with his cameraman, Stéphane
Taponier, between December 2010 and June 2011.

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Stéphane
Taponier and Hervé Ghesquière, the two France 3 journalists held captive by the
Taliban for 547 days, had a big surprise when they entered the France
Télévisions building Thursday afternoon, a few hours after landing at the
military base of Villacoublay, close to Paris, where they were welcomed by
President Nicolas Sarkozy.

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New York, June 29, 2001--The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes
reports from the French government that journalists Hervé Ghesquière and
Stéphane Taponier and their interpreter Reza Din have been released after
more than 18 months in captivity. CPJ is seeking further news about the
group's fixer and driver, known as Ghulam and Sattar, who were also abducted.

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On December 29, 2009, Stéphane
Taponier and Hervé Ghesquière, two seasoned reporters with the French public
service TV channel France 3, and their three Afghan assistants, were taken
hostage in Afghanistan. One year later, a sense of cautious optimism seems
to prevail in Paris. On December 20, French authorities announced that they had
received a video showing the hostages "in good health" although "they appear
weakened by the detention." According to Paul Nahon, director of France 3, the
video--which was not publicly broadcast--was shot "around November 20."

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Hervé Ghesquière and Stéphane Taponier, two journalists from the public television channel France 3, along with their Afghan translator, Mohamed Reza, and two assistants, Ghulam and Satar, have been held hostage for 300 days in Afghanistan.

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New York, September 9, 2010--The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomed the release of British journalist Asad Qureshi from captivity in Pakistan. He was held for more than five months in a tribal area bordering Afghanistan.

On Wednesday, I posted an item about the dangers
to journalists in Pakistan, reminding readers that at least two reporters--Canadian
freelancer Beverley Giesbrecht,
who goes by the name Khadija Abdul Qahaar, and British journalist Asad Qureshi--are being held captive somewhere
along the border with Afghanistan. I later received a few e-mail messages
reminding me that there are at least three journalists still being held in
Afghanistan as well. Here are updates on the Afghan cases:

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New York, April 14, 2010--The Committee to Protect
Journalists is deeply concerned by the new demands made by a Taliban group that
is holding captive two French television journalists, Hervé Ghesquière and
Stéphane Taponier, translator Mohammed Reza, and the
group's driver. They
were taken in Kapisa province, northeast of Kabul, in December.